THE surge in takeover activity seen in other parts of the UK last year struck home with alacrity in recent weeks. Two of Scotland's best known niche property consultancies have been acquired by global players.

In January, the largest licensed leisure and hotel specialist north of the border - Glasgow-based Creevy LLH - was snapped up by global chartered surveyor Jones Lang LaSalle. The following week the largest chartered surveyor on the planet - CBRE - swallowed independent Aberdeen consultants, Paul Gee & Co.

This follows last year's takeover of national surveyor Donaldsons by international player DTZ.

This has raised questions over whether the current marketplace can sustain independent practices and the impact - good or bad - on the Scottish surveying world.

Jan Thompson, head of Jones Lang LaSalle's Birmingham office, experienced the effects first hand in his own city last year. In an unprecedented year of volatility, there were three significant takeovers, two new niche start-ups and a management buy-out.

Thompson says: "In any merger or takeover you have a period where companies take time to digest each other and settle down.

But when companies have a very big market share, there is a real disquiet among consultants due to the potential for conflicts of interest."

His colleagues in Scotland - and at their rivals CBRE - claim the mergers give their clients access to a range of services and expertise which were previously unavailable in one stop. Mergers - or, more often, unstated takeovers - generally seek synergy, where a combined whole is greater than the sum of its separate parts.

CBRE says the acquisition will enable it to expand its position in Scotland by combining Paul Gee & Co with its existing operations in Edinburgh and Glasgow. It failed in its attempt to open an Aberdeen office in 2004, with the incipient practice lasting just a few months.

Jones Lang LaSalle, for its part, views the takeover as a means of building on its existing national hotel business. Alan Robertson, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Scotland, says: "An increasing number of large mixed-use developments in Scotland now feature hotel, leisure and licensed trade uses as well as offices and retail. With a specialist team now based here in Scotland, this deal will enable us to offer a more comprehensive service to our clients than ever before."

However, mergers often lead to fallout, with previously competing staff finding their roles duplicated within a merged entity. Birmingham is only starting to see this now, with several high-profile departures marring efforts to surround the takeovers in positive publicity.

The market views acquisitions as both an opportunity and a threat. A diverse market is deemed a healthy market and some clients just prefer to deal with smaller firms.

Also, it has been said that there is something peculiar about the temperament of niche agents that doesn't slot nicely into the corporate mould. Competing firms will be sitting and waiting for the fallout to begin so they can start beefing up their own specialist departments.